Bruins look to close perfect homestand before hitting the road

Mike Loftus The Patriot Ledger

Friday

Mar 8, 2019 at 4:45 PMMar 8, 2019 at 4:45 PM

The Bruins, who haven’t lost in regulation in their last 18 games, try to finish a homestand with a 6-0-0 record on Saturday night. They’ll play 10 of their final 14 regular-season games away from TD Garden.

Late last month, they just missed a perfect five-game Western Conference road trip when they couldn’t find the shootout goal needed to lift them past the Blues on Feb. 23.

The Bruins take another shot at perfection on Saturday night against the Senators (NESN, 7:05 p.m.), when they attempt to complete their last significant homestand of the season with a 6-0-0 record. The B’s then depart for Pittsburgh to meet the Penguins on Sunday night (NBCSN, 7:35 p.m.) and start a three-game road trip. That game also opens a stretch in which they’ll play 10 of their final 14 regular-season games away from TD Garden.

But back to the homestand, which has been an impressive mix of solid wins over some of the NHL’s best teams (Sharks, Lightning), hard-fought wins against non-contenders (Devils, Panthers) and, most recently, high drama: The B’s have overcome 2-0 deficits in both games this week, earning a 4-3 overtime decision over the Hurricanes on Tuesday, then scoring twice in the final 37 seconds to overtake the Panthers on Thursday, 4-3.

The Bruins, admittedly, haven’t been at their best, but they’ve found ways to extend a points streak to 18 games (14-0-4, tied for second-longest in franchise history), a home winning streak to nine games, and a home unbeaten streak to 9-0-2. They haven’t lost in regulation since Jan. 19, and their last loss of any sort was that 2-1 shootout decision against the Blues two weeks ago.

"Fall behind -- not a good formula," said head coach Bruce Cassidy, who let his players take Friday off. "(But) The guys want to win every night. They don’t want to say ‘Hey, we’ve had a real good run, it’s not our night, let’s get on to the next one.’ I think that’s a good, positive sign that we’ve got a bunch of gamers in there."

Saturday’s game, on paper, would appear to be a mere tuneup for a challenging trip in which the B’s will play consecutive games against teams trying to fight their way into the Eastern Conference playoffs (Penguins on Tuesday, Blue Jackets on Tuesday) before Thursday’s game against the Jets, who can still win the Central Division.

The Sens, who have the worst record in the league, come to the Garden after holding a fire sale at the Feb. 25 trade deadline (top-scoring forwards Mark Stone and Steve Duchene were traded), and then firing head coach Guy Boucher. They’re 1-8-1 over their last 10, 1-2-1 since Marc Crawford replaced Boucher.

Then again, the Bruins had a tough time putting away the Devils and Panthers, and they’re understaffed: Winger Jake DeBrusk, a late scratch on Thursday (lower body injury), joined linemate Marcus Johansson (lung contusion), goal-scoring leader David Pastrnak (thumb surgery) and defenseman Kevan Miller (upper body) on an injury list that has recently started to lengthen.

Cassidy, naturally, wants to take a healthy team into the post-season, but has enjoyed watching a variety of players step up.

"It has been nice to see who’s next," the coach said. "Hopefully, on Saturday, it’s the next guy. I think that’s good team-building, when everybody has their day."

Mike Loftus writes for the Patriot Ledger of GateHouse Media.

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